From the sharp mind of one Viktor Frankl comes this powerful message; it will transcend the ages, as most wisdom and principle based thinking does.

Don’t aim at success — the more you aim at it and make it a target, the more you are going to miss it. For success, like happiness, cannot be pursued; it must ensue, and it only does so as the unintended side-effect of one’s dedication to a cause greater than oneself or as the by-product of one’s surrender to a person other than oneself. Happiness must happen, and the same holds for success: you have to let it happen by not caring about it. I want you to listen to what your conscience commands you to do and go on to carry it out to the best of your knowledge. Then you will live to see that in the long run — in the long run, I say! — success will follow you precisely because you had forgotten to think of it.

Wow.

How would you unpack this quote? As always on this blog, insight, feedback, and comments are most welcome.

Apply what you read, learn, or hear.

And watch the magic of transformation from Levels 2 & 3 to Level 4 happen!

Recently, I had the blessing to listen to an audio recording which was really eye opening – rest assured that I’d not have had the opportunity to learn at this level without having made the decision to become better in all areas of life.

The crux of the recording = get your thinking right first; it is an inside-out battle, as better thoughts flow outward to the outside once you conquer limiting beliefs, cynicism, negativity, doubt, fears of man, and excusitis on the inside.

Here are the five laws that were spotlighted, culled from my notes & some personal reflection after hearing the talk numerous times over the past month.

One: Law of ‘Cause & Effect’

The most fundamental of the five; in fact, without it, is a foundation of Western Civilization as we know it today, and as it was birthed back in antiquity during the ascendency of the Greeks. The world is guided by law, and not by chance, as Aristotle taught to his students.

Choices we’ve made in the past ( cause ) are definitely impacting our present ( effect ). We most certainly reap what we have sowed.

Study the works of Viktor Frankl & Seligman, the latter of the ‘explanatory style‘, to better grasp this law at a far deeper level.

Two: Law of Belief

A person most always acts consistently with his/her beliefs.

It doesn’t work if one changes their actions or habits without first changing the beliefs that frame their thinking.

Belief, let alone faith, is very powerful – one of the all time best books to read is ‘The Magic of Thinking Big‘.

Three: Law of Expectations

Dr. Robert Rosenthal’s ‘Pygmalion in the Classroom‘ illustrates this law to a ‘T’.

What you get in life is what you expect. This law and the preceding law work hand in hand. Build your belief first, and your expectations can and will be molded to be far more useful as you proceed on your success journey.

A simple illustration ( can find numerous graphics via a basic web search ) is to have dreams and a sweeping vision that tower above your obstacles and present reality. If you can frame your expectations for the future in the right thinking context, you’ll be further down the road than the majority of people you encounter.

Four: Law of Attraction

Simply stated, ‘You attract what you are.’

If you’ve already changed your thinking, mindset, beliefs, and expectations, it’s almost a given that you’ll be attracting different people to you.

John C. Maxwell, in his magnum opus, ‘The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership‘, focused on this through what he called the “Law of Magnetism”.

Five: Law of Correspondence

Your outer self corresponds to your innermost self; who you are externally, facing the world, is a direct correlation to what you are internally.

This can be your greatest responsibility and assignment; how will you become a better ‘you’ ? Re-review the above four laws: notice how they all are inter-related?

In the end, you want to become the mental equivalent of what you want to be on the outside. Change your inputs ( information is everything ), focus on having a better mindset and mode of thinking, and you’ll see the results flow downstream.